11/04/2009 - News
No Benefit for Hormone Therapy in Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
By: June Chen, MD
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According to a new study presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology 51st Annual Meeting, men with low-risk prostate cancer who undergo radiation therapy do not need to be treated with hormone therapy. Hormone treatment does not improve survival in this group of prostate cancer patients.
This study, involving 1979 men with prostate cancer, is the largest prostate cancer study to date. Study participants were randomly assigned to receive either hormone therapy plus radiation or radiation alone. After 8 years of follow-up, the overall survival and prostate cancer-specific survival were similar between the two groups of patients. Since hormone therapy can lead to loss of sexual function and liver toxicity, being able to skip hormone treatment means fewer adverse side effects for low-risk prostate cancer patients.
This new study definitively establishes that there is no benefit to hormone therapy in men with low-risk prostate cancer. On the other hand, short-term hormone treatment does improve survival in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer. This study is the first to demonstrate compelling evidence of survival benefit in men with intermediate-risk patients with prostate cancer. However, the radiation doses and techniques used in this study are outdated, and it may be that the higher doses of radiation that are given now would eliminate the need for hormone therapy.
Source:
American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 51st Annual Meeting, Presented 2 November 2009.
Created on: 11/04/2009
Reviewed on: 11/04/2009
Reviewed on: 11/04/2009
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